Benefit of the Doubt
by Pass Crow
Summary: Aftermath. Post Series. "We're old men, Wendy. Old men who already been through the goddamn wars. I seen enough blood, buried enough people. We're gonna make everything fall right." All the fight went out of his stance and he leaned back into the cabinets, rolling the back of his skull into the closed doors. "No more cartel, no more goddamn Call of Duty shit."


"He's easin' her into the family part of it. Jarry's smart and Chibs knows it." Tig offered the words to Quinn and picked up a blue crayon. "Lettin' her see it ain't all what she reads in her reports. Showin' her the other side of the MC." Abel was tucked into his lap, attention focused on the coloring book that was laid to the table. "Smart." Leaning to one side he wiped the wax into the picture Abel had picked, shading the sky while the boy blobbed black on a motorcycle.

"Does it have to be some big plot, boys?" Wendy turned another cup of coffee down into the table, edging it to the right of Tig's hand.

"Nah, not sayin' that. Just sayin' he's bringin' her around, showing her it can be different." Trading out blue for green, Tig bent his wrist so that he could start on the trees at the edge of the picture. Abel was still layering on black , obviously not too worried about staying in the lines.

"Can it be different, Tig? I mean, really?" There was a speculating look in her eyes as she watched them. The bend of Tig's chest had him leveled down, pressing comfort into Abel's back.

"Already is. I woke up in a bed that smelled like perfume and fabric softener and now I'm sittin' here drinkin' coffee and coloring pictures." The shrug creaked leather, the smell of it mixing easily with coffee. "And when we finish this masterpiece," Tig scrubbed his hand into Abel's hair, before picking up his coffee. "I'm headed to TM where I got at least three hours work on a POS Ford."

"Aww." Abel gripped into Tig's finger and pulled his hand down, tucking the large palm tight to his chest and hugging on it. "Don't go Tigger." The man smiled and tugged Abel back tighter, both of them losing interest in the coloring book. Abel turned into his hold and perked up both hands, his small wax scented fingers digging into Tig's cheeks.

"There've always been normal days, Tig." Wendy glanced between Quinn and Tig. "You're gonna have to string a few of them together before I even contemplate-"

"We're working on it, Wendy. Jesus." Tig hauled a breath and held it, swallowing the frustration that wanted to boil off his chest. "Sorry." He offered the apology to the wide blue eyes that were caught on his, ducking a kiss onto the little boy's forehead. "Didn't mean to yell, little man."

"S'okay." Abel's palms clapped gently into Tig's cheeks. "I miss the swings and the slide, Tigger." He wavered his way to his feet, balancing on Tig's thighs.

"You've got swings and a slide at school, buddy." Tig clipped both hands into the boy's waist and started fidgeting his legs, bouncing Abel up and down to peels of laughter.

"Wendy won't let me go there." He pouted the words out and Tig had to hide a smile when Abel edged a glare at his mother. "And I want my swings and slides."

"We've gotta fix your swings and slide up, monkey man. Things got a lil' messed up, remember?" Quinn snorted a roll of drolled laughter as Wendy gave them both jaded looks. The big man's face remained blanked and passive as he continued drinking his coffee.

"Yeah. Boom!" Abel flung his hands wide and mimicked the explosion, jumping his way off Tig's lap. "That was pretty scary."

"Yeah, it was. But we're gonna clean it up. Then you can come play on your playground, deal?" Tig scooped crayons into a pile, settling them all on the coloring book before shoving to his feet.

"Uhkay." The happy animation had faded from Abel's face as he watched the obvious motions of leave taking. "We didn' finish."

"I gotta talk to Wendy for a second, kiddo, and then I gotta do some work." Tig crossed the space between them and ducked into a crouch, resting his elbows across his knees. The force with which Abel barreled into him almost took him down, his boots clattering as he dropped one hand back to hold his balance. He hauled the boy into his chest, fingers fisting into Abel's shirt automatically. "Easy, S'not like I'm goin' away forever, little man."

"Everybody else does." The words were half mumbled and pressed into black leather. Tig's fingers closed harder as he swallowed hard, his jaw clenching. Quinn tried to catch his eye but he ignored it, ducking his head down into Abel's shoulder.

"Not gonna happen, kid." Abel clung to him as tightly, head buried against his chest. "Already said I ain't goin' nowhere." Smoothly he shifted from his crouch, easily pulling Abel up with him. Avoiding the looks of the other adults he turned towards the window, staring out as he rubbed his fingers into blond.

* * *

"Shit like that is why I worry about him staying here. He's a little boy, Tig. Little boys don't worry about shit like that." Wendy spoke softly. "He's like that whenever any of you leave. He cried for an hour the other night when he couldn't find Chibs."

"We're all gonna be here, Wendy. We ain't goin' nowhere. All you gotta do is call, one of us'll be here. Those boys are pretty high on the priority list right now, yeah?"

"Yeah? How about in a month? Two months? Six? When Jax's death isn't so close and you're back to running your little Harley empire, how high on the list are they gonna be?"

"Really? I mean, really?" The smile on his face was not amused, and the way it blanked at his eyes was unnerving. "You ain't even gonna give us the benefit of the doubt here?"

"If I weren't giving you the benefit of the doubt I'd be on a farm watching my boys play with lambs and shit."

"Your boys." Tig laughed, both hands wiping up into his hair and tugging into dark curls. "Wendy, you're a good girl. You really are. And, obviously you're the best mother for those boys right now but every goddamn time you open your mouth you piss me off."

"I'm serious, Tig. Tara was a stupid bitch who went about everything with her head so far up her ass I dunno how she breathed, but she wanted those boys gone and safe. So did Jax. And they're mine now. I'm gonna do what's right for them."

"Charming is right for them. They'll be safe here. Look around." Tig waved a hand out the window, indicating the bright morning. "We're old men, Wendy. Old men who already been through the goddamn wars. I seen enough blood, buried enough people. We're gonna make everything fall right." All the fight went out of his stance and he leaned back into the cabinets, rolling the back of his skull into the closed doors. "No more cartel, no more goddamn Call of Duty shit."

"You'll never be old men, Tig. You'll never be completely safe, you'll always find a way to put yourselves in danger."

"Maybe. Little old to completely learn new tricks but we ain't gonna let it blow back on those boys, Wendy. Ya gotta trust me on that."

"Give me a reason and I will. We're here right now. I'm not going to spirit them away in the dead of night. Stop pushing at me and prove it." Tig just nodded tiredly into her words, lack of sleep aging at his face where the brashed sun hit him. In the silence Wendy leaned next to him and opened a drawer and pulled out a crumpled and stale pack of cigarettes. Tig took one when she offered it, rolling it in his fingers before tucking it in his lips. The flame of his lighter flickered between them. "Best mother because I'm the only one still breathing?" Wendy sighed, aiming her smoke towards the open window.

"Pretty much." Tig agreed, sucking the smoke deep. His eyes were tired, the faded attempt at a smile barely turning his lips. "And ya got better tits than me or Chibby. Kids need tits, specially the little ones."


End file.
